(indieWIRE/ 9.14.00) — Tom Tykwer landed in Toronto on Tuesday with little time to spare before he was to introduce his latest film, “The Princess and the Warrior.” Just 20 hours before, Tykwer rapped production on “Heaven,” hisMiramax-produced new feature, but you wouldn’t have guessed it, judgingfrom the filmmaker’s energy. He and star-girlfriend Franka Potente (ThePrincess, if you hadn’t guessed) were whisked off the plane, sped totheir hotel and joyfully presented their film to a hundreds of viewerseager to re-experience the thrills of Tykwer’s “Run, Lola, Run.”

Just a week ago in Venice, the meeting may have not gone so smoothly, asthe world premiere of “The Princess and The Warrior” was received withfar less than raves. indieWIRE’s own review went: “Tykwer’s comedownfilm unravels in frustrating fits and starts. It’s ‘Wait, Lola, Wait’with narcoleptic prog-rock overtones — Zabriskie Pointless for suckerromantics.”

But here in Toronto, some critics remain faithful to Tykwer’s cause.Though many naysayers — probably the same bunch who found “Run, Lola,Run” shallow or MTV-ish — still exist, others contend that Tykwerremains one of Europe’s foremost visual stylists. Calling the film“Wait, Lola, Wait” — while admittedly a witty jibe — is an unfairlabel to place upon a movie that was not out to replicate “Run LolaRun,” but moreso to develop on that film’s cinematic flourishes,thumping suspense, and fate-filled themes.

“All I can try to do is make interesting, entertaining movies,” anexuberant Tykwer said, responding to the notion that people areexpecting “Run Lola Run 2.” “I don’t know whether this is lessinteresting or less entertaining than ‘Lola,'” he continued of “ThePrincess,” “but I personally don’t feel that, at all. I never want tosee the same movie again. Especially I don’t want to make it. I want toexplore things. I feel like it’s extremely connected to ‘Lola’ in termsof the spirit and soul and the actress,” he said laughing, gesturingtowards Potente. “Everyone who loves movies loves the difference ofmovies,” he added, “and the potential to see something very different.And that’s what I tried to do — not to repeat myself.”

Fortunately for Tykwer (and distributor Sony Pictures Classics), NorthAmerican audiences may be more receptive to Tykwer’s star-crossed,techno-pulsing worlds than those in Europe. It’s hard to tell, ofcourse; we’ll see when the film gets released. But what sort ofEuro-fare does work in the North American market? Well, there’s reallyonly one to find out and it’s here at the Toronto Film Festival, alsoknown as “the gateway to the North American community,” where filmmakersfrom all over the world try to break on through to this side of theAtlantic.

“It’s the most important market in the world,” noted Spanish directorLaura Mana at the third annual European Directors panel, where 10 of thefestival’s notable premiering European directors gathered to discussproblems of globalization, co-productions, and how to tell personalstories in a money-driven marketplace. “Opposed to the Hollywoodsteamroller that comes to Toronto each year, it’s very important that wecelebrate European directors,” noted Festival Director Piers Handling,as the panel got underway.

But it was German Romuald Karmaker, whose feature “Manila” won the Best Film Prize at Locarno, who cut the whole session down to size: “Why dowe need a panel to get interest in our films. Why do we have to get 10European directors together to get reactions in the local papers ifAmerican or Canadian filmmakers go to Europe and everyone’s after them.Why’s that?”

Dominik Moll, the French director whose Cannes hit “Harry, He is Here toHelp” will be released by Miramax in January, noted the inherentproblems in the terms of discussion: “Hollywood verses European,” hesaid, “is a bit of an artificial separation. It also gives theimpression that European films are necessarily personal or arthousefilms, which is not true. You have very commercial French films that areawful and some commercial French films that are very as good, and it’sthe same from the U.S.”

Directors from smaller countries on the panel, like Belgium’s PierrePaul-Renders (with his clever cyber-story “Thomas in Love“), Iceland’sBaltasar Kormakur (with his praised comic debut “101 Rekjavik“), andAustria’s Florian Flicker (with his 3-character heist flick and Locarnowinner “Holdup“) all told of the necessity of international partners toget their movies made. Said Kormakur, “I come from a country of 275,000people, so I can’t make a movie only for this market.” Romuald Karmakeroffered Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami as an example, “What is hewithout France?” he asked his fellow panelists.

Also on the panel was Norway’s Hans Petter Moland whose “Aberdeen“continues its trail of positive buzz from Karlovy Vary and Telluride toToronto. For a film that stars Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling andIan Hart, filmed in London, and co-produced, it was a surprise to hearthe Scandinavian lament the “danger of globalization” where cinematicvariety is swallowed by global market considerations.

“Scarlet Diva” director and quite the young diva herself, Asia Argento,daughter of the great Italian horror director Dario Argento, spiced upthe panel with her tale of shooting Italy’s first digitally shotfeature. Shooting with a Digi-Beta Sony 790, Argento was able to stealexterior shots from all over the world and integrate them into her film.Argento praised the format and offered a glimpse into what her next DVproject has in store: “It’s a porno film, which is wonderful for me,because in Italy,” she continued, “it’s the only way to go against themainstream — these boring comedies and these horrible neo-realisticfilms — so I think I’m going to make a porno.” Argento clarified: “ButI won’t be acting in it.”

Another European director in Toronto using digital technologies isBritian’s Bernard Rose, director of the Hi-Defition Digital Film“ivansxtc. (To Live and Die in Hollywood).” Before his screening, Rosecalled “35 mm film chained to the institutions.” “You have to getpermission,” he said, “for the film, for the script, for the cast.” ForDV, he continued, “you don’t have to ask permission. All you need issome good credit cards and a pair of running shoes.” While Rose’s wordsgot a laugh, his film got few. And except for the movie’s opening imagesof Los Angeles, the digital image, projected digitally, was a far cryfrom the lush details of celluloid. The movie needs a 35 mm blow-up anda rewrite.

Films from Europe that have fared better with Toronto audiences includeTony Gatlif‘s “Vengo,” Sophie Fillieres‘s “Aie” (“Ouch”) and Francois Ozon‘s latest “Sous le Sable” (Under the Sand), which divided critics, yet remained an impassioned favorite for a select few. One notableabsence from Toronto’s Euro-slate is Cannes winner, “Dancer in theDark.” A quick stop at its U.S. distributor Fine Line revealed theanswer: if a film opens the New York Film Festival, which “Dancer” willnext week, inter-festival politics say it can’t play in Toronto.